BOOK SYNOPSIS
Christy Blair is a twenty-one-year-old figure skater with a dream of becoming the Canadian Champion. Jason Hill is an ex-figure skater who has moved on to become a sports physiotherapist. He has no interest in becoming involved in the world of competitive sports ever again.
Christy makes it a priority to convince Jason to become her coach, which she does with loads of persistence and just a bit of luck. Once these two get together, they create enough sexual tension to start a four-alarm fire. Add Christy’s disapproving Mother with a secret, a boss who’s not who he seems to be, and a couple of ex’s into the mix, and you’ve got yourself a romance that jumps right off the page and into the reader’s heart.

BOOK EXCERPTS
Christy Blair arrived at her University of Toronto psychology lecture right on time, despite the incredible amount of traffic in downtown Toronto at eight in the morning. She usually enjoyed this class, but the professor had decided to use a movie today to help illustrate the physical effects of depression on the body. The darkened room was so warm and she was so tired, she nodded off for most of the class—which meant she missed the salient points in the movie that would help her write the paper the professor was now assigning. Damn, she had to come up with a better workout schedule that would allow her to get enough sleep at night.

Her only other class this semester was a history course, which took place two buildings away from her psych class. The professor in this course had a particularly recalcitrant nature, which he took great pains to take out on his students. One of his specialties was to surprise students he didn’t feel were paying enough attention in his class with a verbal, one-person pop quiz. This was meant to embarrass the student, and 99 percent of the time it worked.

On this particular day, Christy had not been paying attention in the least, instead drawing pictures of the proper execution of a double axle jump using stick figures on her paper. “Christy, please tell us the name of the third Prime Minister of Canada and what you feel was his most important contribution to the development of Canada as a nation.”

Christy jumped when she heard her name and immediately started wracking her brains for the answer to the question. Think, Christy, what the hell was his name. Alexander, that was it! But Alexander what—was Alexander his first name or his second name? She was trying hard to process the information through her tired brain as quickly as possible, and she blurted out, “John Alexander MacKenzie!”

“Thank you so much, Christy, for your well thought-out answer. You’ve managed to combine the names of the first three Prime Ministers to create a whole new piece of history. Seeing as your answer was so intelligent and profound, why don’t you share your artwork with the rest of us so that we might glean more wisdom from your magnificent brain?” The professor indicated that she should place the artwork he had caught her drawing on the projector.

What she really wanted to share with the old bastard was a swift kick in his cocky, know-it-all butt, but she knew that would only make matters worse. So she stood up and went to the front of the lecture hall, where she put her drawing on the projector, and the stick figure people were magnified thirty times onto a screen for all to see. Laughter erupted from the room, and the class thankfully ended before she got back to her seat.

At the end of this class, she rushed to the bike stands, wasting valuable time fiddling with her stubborn bike lock, then rode her bike hell bent for leather to the ice rink, which was a thirty-minute ride north of the campus.

Upon arrival, she made her way directly to the ice pad, where her figure-skating coach, Ruby Morrow, stood at the boards glaring at her watch as Christy hurriedly pulled on her skates, trying to tighten them quickly and fumbling in her haste.

Finally ready, she skated on to the ice and joined her coach.

“Christy, this has got to stop. I’m going to have to start charging you for being late every day. My time is valuable, and I could be teaching another skater in the time you keep me waiting.”

“I know; it’s just that my history lecture went poorly and then my tire was going flat…”

Ruby’s voice rose, and her face began to turn red. “I don’t care if Orlando Bloom tried to lure you away, you’re to be here on time and that’s that!”

“Okay, I promise I’ll never be late again.” Trying to distract Ruby from her tirade, Christy changed the subject. “I was hoping we could work on the lutz today, I think I’m really close to landing it finally…”

BOOK REVIEWS
“If you have ever been fascinated by the ice shows on TV or been fortunate enough to see one in person, then you know the magic the performers weave.
This glimpse into the backstage of their world is fascinating as we watch the struggles one undaunted young woman endures on multiple levels.” Reviewer Amanda Killgore

5 Stars! Delightful story… “The closest I have ever been to ice skating is TV. I love to watch the graceful movements of the skates as they seem to effortlessly glide across the ice.

Catherine Colombo captures the essence of a skater in her book Heart of A Champion. Christy dreams of being a championship skater, despite the lack of support from her family and former coaches. Christy does have the Heart of A Champion and actively pursues Jason Hill as a coach. Together, they forge a winning program and sizzling relationship. Colombo clearly demonstrates the sacrifices athletes make in their effort to reach for the gold. Fans of romance will enjoy Heart of A Champion.” Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for ReviewYourBook.com